Virtual Brush Box

Images

Awareness of the outside world. ARTNews: The 25 Best Artworks About the U.S. Flag, From the Patriotic to the Provocative, Greenberger, 2022.

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Legend

J – Flag Day. US Flag Code, Cornell LII

U – Solstice. Summer Sun. Countries with sun flags: Argentina, Bangladesh, Republic of China (Taiwan), Rwanda, Namibia, Uruguay. World Atlas: Which National Flags Feature A Sun In Their Design?

N – “Strawberry Moon … June’s Full Moon also coincides with a Supermoon. The Moon will be at one of its closest points to Earth all year at 7:21 p.m. Eastern.” Inverse: Full Moon 2022 calendar: Dates, times, schedule, and names for the brightest nights all year, Spivak 2021. Lunar flags, BBC: China becomes second nation to plant flag on the Moon, 2020

E – Juneteenth. “You’ll see that the Juneteenth flag uses the exact same colors as the United States’s flag: red, white, and blue. This was intentional and meant to show that the formerly enslaved and their descendants are free Americans, too.” Oprah Daily: The True Meaning of the Juneteenth Flag, Explained, Jean-Philippe, 2022.

Book. A Flag Worth Dying For: The Power and Politics of National Symbols (Politics of Place), Tim Marshal, (Elliott and Thompson 2016). Started but not finished. [A Vexillological Moment]

[The Illustrated Month, January]
[The Illustrated Month, February]
[The Illustrated Month, March]
[The Illustrated Month, April]
[The Illustrated Month, May]

Onwards!
Katherine

Blogging About Blogging

Awareness of the outside world. In looking up links for this post, I came across a post from January of 2020. [Adventures in Predicting the Future, The 2020 Show Season]

As I have said before and probably will say again, ‘We had no idea …‘ Not a profound thought, but one that keeps smacking me in the face. [Exploring The Rabbit Hole]

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A blog hop is anthology, i.e. a collection of stories around a central theme. Entertain us. Share your variations on these themes. Some I have written up; some are ideas for the future.

if you blog any of these hops, please comment here &/or message me so I can list your post. If you have already written posts that fit, please drop a link in the comments so we may enjoy.

Not a horse blogger? Got you covered. Ideas for all bloggers & non-equine bloggers below.

Not a blogger? If you feel moved by one or more of these, let’s talk guest post.

Let the writing begin!

For Horse Bloggers

How We Met. How did you find the horse(s) you are riding now? Did you search for him/her on your own? Shop with a trainer? Classifieds? Did you know the horse before? And so on.

Rodney [The Horse Next Door]
Milton [Mail-Order Horse]

Update.
Wait For The Jump: That Time I Bought a Paso Fino

Horse Sport Cross-Training. If you have done more than two horse sports/disciplines, what have you learned from X that helped you with Y? The farther apart the sports/disciplines, the better.

“Thirty-four years of grunting around dressage rings gave me hope for a stellar pattern. My riding past is usually an albatross in these classes. It was nice to have it work in my favor.” [Important Questions]

Things Are Looking Up. It’s easy to be a curmudgeon. [Watching Kentucky, Having Opinions & Get Off My Lawn, And Take Your Warmblood With You]

What GOOD changes have you seen in the horse world?

I’m warming to zippered boots, in both fit and looks. [My Heart Is In My Boots]

Back when I was showing Milton, I shopped for a new coat but didn’t buy. Based on my reaction to the new show shirts, I suspect I would like a technical show coat. [Show Shirt Surprise]

Dream Destination I – Spectating. “Every discipline has a high-end horse show as festival: world-class competition, oodles of like-minded folks, old friends from every part of your life, and shopping.” [Peregrinatio]

Have you been? Take us with you.

Rolex, as was. [Lexington post archive, specifically Peregrinatio in Stabilitate & the rest of that week in 2012]

Louisville, not my dream but I recognize the sparkle. [Spotted on the Green Shavings]

Dream Destination II – Riding. Did you ride at one of these mega shows? Do tell.

I should write up my sidesaddle adventures some day. [Dream Rides]

Not quite a mega-show; sure was fun. “Immediately, every dormant competitive instinct sat up & said ‘We’re not dead yet.’ ” [Nationals I Have Known & Nationals I Have Known, As Seen From A Cart]

Dream Destination III – Travel. Shows aren’t everything. (Gasp!) Tell us about your experience with horse culture in countries other than your own. [Riding in Reykjavik, Guest Post & Riding Abroad]

My Other Hobbies. What do you do for fun when you are not at the barn?

I have many, many, way-too-many minor interests, most of which I have managed to wedge into a horse blog. [Stamps, Weaving, Dance, and so on]

A few I have not blogged about, Geocaching being the only one that comes to mind at the moment. I didn’t get out enough for this to be interesting and then 2020.

Of course, if you work in the horse world, these qualify as hobbies rather than other hobbies. Dressage trainer Sara Bradley runs in her spare (?!?) time, Middle Aged Runner: The 10 Commandments of The Boston Marathon.

For All Bloggers

Dream Destination. Every thing has a big thing wherein like-minded folks gather to celebrate that thing. Tell us about yours.

Qualifying in Dream Destination & My Other Hobbies, Been There, Done That: More Blackpool. For background, BTDT: Blackpool & BTDT: Blackpool

Things Are Looking Up. With outrage on every news cycle, it is easy to become pessimistic and defeatist. What are some GOOD changes in society as reflected in your life?

For Non-Equine Bloggers

A Whiff of Horsehair. No matter what you do for work or play, I am willing to bet there is a horse component. Doubt this? Searching horses & space yields, “The 5-year-old horse named Ghost is part of the Bureau of Land Management at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Southern California.” CNN: The Space Force has a new recruit: A wild mustang – CNN.

“Since I currently work as a librarian, I also desired to use this opportunity to highlight the amazing resources housed in libraries.” [Guest Post: Amy Kilkenny on Equine Bookplates]

Blog Hop Posts

[Would You Rather, Horse Edition, Blog Hop] from Anxiety At A 2021
[Horse Sports I Have Known] invitation from me 2021
[Not Rising To The Challenge] from May As Well Event 2020
[Equestrian Blog Hop: Costumes I Have Committed] from Equestrian Bloggers Facebook Group 2017
[Equestrian Bloggers Blog Hop: A Blog Is More Than Words] from Equestrian Bloggers Facebook Group 2017
[What Makes You, You? A Blog Hop] from Thoughtful Equestrian 2017
[10 Little Things About Having Horses At Home] from Peace & Carrots 2016
[Top 5 Horse Show Essentials, Academy Division] from Breed, Ride, Event 2015
[My Best Class: Blog Hop Invitation] from me 2015, includes blog roll
[Loot. A Blog Hop] from me 2014, includes multiple comments
[Living Digitally: RibbonFest Invitation] from me 2014

State of the Blog [archives]

Onwards!
Katherine

Fit To Ride

Awareness of the outside world. UN: World Bicycle Day.

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Losing my enthusiasm for walking elsewhere, even if I am already out running errands.

One. No new walks. If I am simply walking around in circle, I might as well go home.

Because …

Two. I really like to walk at the close of the day.

Except when it rains for entire week. Still trying to keep my knees happy by staying out of slippery conditions. Early in a rain event I can squeak by on the flat area of the pasture. After it gets muddy, I go somewhere else.

Places

Stepping Stone Farm, after loading [October Walks]

Birmingham Zoo [A Walk in the Zoo, A Sprint for Sloths, A Semi-Virtual 5k]

To voting on Tuesday

Corporate office park [Another Lakeside Stroll photo]

Counts

Walking – 22 times in 31 days. Three were Virtual Tevis warm-up walks of one lap, so 19 regular walks of one mile or more. [Different Ways of Walking]

Online Tai Chi – 10 times in 22 weekdays, plus one Saturday morning. Turned out to be the last exercise for a while.

Bike – 2 days.

Exercise days – 24 days. Math is wonky. Some days did two, some days none.

Non-exercises days – 7 days. Horse activities, 3 days. Rain, 1 day. Resting after failing to stick the landing off of a stool, 3 days.

Mileage Logs

Walking [Virtual Mississippi River]

Walking, warm-up laps [Virtual Tevis]

Biking [Virtual Great Ocean Road]

Onwards!
Katherine

Riding

Awareness of the outside world. More time to consider the outside world; less energy to cope with it.

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Jump schooling two weekends in a row!

Kept in mind the ideas from last time. [Back Into The Ring]

One. Do not buy into his anxiety. A slow start to schooling does not mean the entire day is doomed.

Two. Be clear and certain about path and pace.

At the beginning, Rodney was in a good place physically, but mentally wired, which was a weird feeling for both horse and rider.

Lots of trot poles.

He started to get concerned, almost as if he was anticipating the questions becoming harder and harder. (… and harder and harder and it’s going to be impossible and I won’t able to do it and … and … The only one I know who can get spun up from a standing start as fast as Rodney is me.)

A walk break does not help. Had to do trot circles to get him actively thinking about something else. Coach Courtney calls this ‘changing their brain.’ [In Which We Learn Things]

We ended with a short course of tiny jumps. Crossrail from last week, pole and tiny vertical for a quasi-related distance, second tiny vertical. Two trips.

He actually relaxed once we got to the course. ‘Oh, this is the question of the day? Okay, I can do this.’

Did a cute little jumper turn at a trot the second time around. He can dump momentum if I cut the turn too tight on the flat. This time he whipped (metaphorically) around.

A little hop over last that felt like him showing off. Good Pony!

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The plan was to take advantage of the long weekend and go back on a second time. Didn’t happen. [Bored]

Onwards!
Katherine

Riding

Awareness of the outside world. Alabama News Center: Alabama quilters escape to Lay Lake for ‘Building Better Quilts 2021’, By Meg McKinney, October 12, 2021.

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At some point, I will expand my repertoire to riding a wider range of ASBs at Stepping Stone Farm once again (small shudder). For my lesson last week, I deliberately asked to ride Optimus. I wanted to see if I could take less than three classes to remember how to ride saddle seat. [Switching Gears]

Get ready. I tried to consciously consider the fact that I was wearing jods and using a different saddle as markers to put myself in saddle seat headspace before I got on.

Get on. Remember where to put body parts. [Gears]

In motion. That’s the hard part. My understanding(?) is that one is constantly asking the horse to compress the stride and lift the feet. Therefore, I figured that if I was asking the horse to do this, the rider should be doing analogous things with their body. [Learning From Youth]

Overall, successful. I was not perfect, but I was not perfect within tolerances for a saddle seat rider, rather than a rider orbiting in from another discipline.

Which raises the question if the riding style I revert to is actually hunt seat or simply a collection of sloppy habits and real hunter/jumper/dressage/eventing is closer to the things that trip me up in saddle seat, i.e. sit up, sit back, constantly gather the horse, etc. etc. Isn’t all riding about the center of gravity? But that’s a post for another day. [Center of Gravity, Notes From A Lesson]

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Well, done with that for a while. [Bored]

Onwards!
Katherine

Riding

Awareness of the outside world. A reminder that progress is possible. Your Local Epidemiologist: We can reduce gun violence in the U.S. Article talks about tobacco & car safety. To this I would add the rapid – in societal terms – reversal on drunk driving. Are you old enough to remember ‘One for the road’?

Pause to remember those for whom progress would come too late.
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Total. 56 miles, 30 rides, 24 hours 41 minutes, pace 26:27 min/mile.

This week. 1 mile, 1 ride, 30 minutes, pace – walk

To go, 44 miles in 48 47 days. Still ahead of game by four three miles. That will change. Update, corrected for date of post rather than date of draft.

Notes

Rain at the beginning of the week. A quick stomp thru the mud. Rider vet delay at end of the week. [I’m Bored Already]

Although lessons and schooling are out for a while, I hope to be able to wrap the ankle, hop on, and log a few easy VT miles, sooner rather than later.

[The Good Way To Have Ups And Downs With Horses, Week 7, Virtual Tevis 2022]
[VT archives]

Onwards!
Katherine

Not Riding

I’ve taken up this new hobby of cage fighting …

One of the ER nurses suggested that sounded better than what actually happened.

Stepped off stool in barn. Ankle twisted underneath me. I went splat.

Not broken. Sprained to the point that the treatment is similar. Ligaments are apparently hard to heal b/c they are not well vascularized. Reminds me of equine lower legs.

Wear boot. Take it easy. How long depends on whether I stretched or tore the ligaments and how badly. Recovery could be up to 6 weeks, depending on damage.

Onwards!
Katherine